Maria Sakkari played down her rather abysmal track record in semi-finals and finals ahead of another final in Washington.
Sakkari has been among the top players on the WTA Tour for a good amount of time. Her career didn't have the rocket trajectory being a slow progression towards the top. She's worked very hard on that and should be proud of her achievements.
Even so, the Greek player only has one trophy in her career so far with a very poor record in the finals. She lost six of the seven she played which is why some called her the biggest 'choker' in the sport. She was asked about that following her semi-final win over Pegula admitting that she doesn't care.
It wasn't really on my mind, because I really tried to block that semifinal thing that has been going on and on for so long and in every different platform. I just don't really care anymore (smiling). They have made YouTube videos of my losing semifinals. I'm, like, Whatever. People are just so dumb (smiling).
Criticizing Sakkari for losing often in the semi-finals or finals is fair however it shows a certain dose of consistency which is what most players seek. As she pointed out after her win over Pegula, it's better to lose in the semi-final than in the first round.
You know, I'm telling you, I think if you were to ask a lot of players on the tour if they would take my semifinal record, they would say yes, because I'm not losing first round. I'm losing in semifinal. So at the same time, it's nothing bad about it.
But obviously I had it in my mind that I want to overcome that for this year, and, you know, it's something that I'm happy about that it happened this week. But I'm not done yet. That's how I feel.
We'll see if she finally wins a trophy again. It would be her first in year though it won't be easy against Coco Gauff in the final.
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